Refrigerator

ABSTRACT

A refrigerator includes separate freezing and refrigerating compartments, each having is own evaporator and air circulating fan. The evaporator and fan of the refrigerating compartment are mounted to a housing that is attached to a rear wall of the refrigerator. The housing includes an air inlet and an air outlet, the outlet including vertically spaced openings. A blade is mounted in the housing and is driven about a vertical axis for distributing cool air to the outlet openings.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a refrigerator, and more particularly, to acool-air circulating apparatus for a refrigerating compartment providedon the rear wall of a refrigerating compartment which uniformly coolsthe whole space of a refrigerating compartment.

A conventional refrigerator, as shown in FIG. 1, includes a refrigeratorbody 4, a freezing compartment 2, a refrigerating compartment 3, afreezing compartment door 5, and a refrigerating compartment door 6. Thedoors 5,6 are placed on the front of the refrigerator body 4 foropening/closing the freezing and refrigerating compartments 2 and 3,respectively.

The freezing and refrigerating compartments 2 and 3 are separated bymeans of a intermediate wall 1. Provided on the rear wall of thefreezing compartment 2 are an evaporator 7 for generating cool air, anda fan 8 for discharging the generated cool air into the freezing andrefrigerating compartments 2 and 3.

A duct 2a for the freezing compartment 2 is disposed on the rear side ofthe freezing compartment 2, and a duct 3a for the refrigeratingcompartment 3 is disposed on the rear side of the refrigeratingcompartment 3. A plurality of cool-air discharge holes 2b and 3b areformed in an up-and-down direction on the ducts 2a and 3a, respectively,so that the cool air from the evaporator 7 can be introduced into thefreezing and refrigerating compartments 2 and 3.

A first passage 1a and a second passage 1b are formed longitudinallyinside the intermediate wall 1 in order to guide the cool air, which hascirculated in the freezing and refrigerating compartments 2 and 3, intothe evaporator 7. 0n the upper portion of the duct 3a of therefrigerating compartment 3, a damper 3c is provided to control amountof cool air flowing into the refrigerating compartment 3.

A plurality of shelves 3d are arranged in the refrigerating compartment3, each of which corresponds to each cool-air discharge hole 3b. Therefrigerating compartment 3 is sectioned off into several areas by meansof the shelves 3d. Numerals 3e and 9 indicate a vegetable box andcompressor, respectively.

In the refrigerator, constructed as previously mentioned, a portion ofthe cool air generated by the evaporator 7 flows into the freezingcompartment 2 through the cool-air discharge holes 2b and thencirculates within the freezing compartment 2. The cool air then flowsinto the evaporator 7 again through the first passage 1a. On the otherhand, the remnants of the cool air flow into the refrigeratingcompartment 3 through the cool-air discharge holes 3b and then circulatein the refrigerating compartment 3. The cool air then flows into theevaporator 7 again through the second passage 1b.

However, a conventional refrigerator is constructed such that cool airis generated and supplied to the freezing and refrigerating compartments2 and 3 by means of an evaporator 7 and a fan 8, and that fan 8 isdisposed adjacent to the duct 2a for the freezing compartment 2.Consequently, cool air is sufficiently supplied to the freezingcompartment 2, but insufficiently supplied to the refrigeratingcompartment 3.

The above demerit is more problematic in large-sized refrigerators. Thatis, in the case of a refrigerator of large dimensions, it is moredifficult to send cool air to the refrigerating compartment 3 abundantlybecause the volume of the refrigerating compartment 3 is relativelylarge. Accordingly, in order to supply sufficient cool air to eachcompartment of such a large-sized refrigerator, the capacity of theevaporator 7 and fan 8 must be larger, relative to the larger dimensionsof the refrigerator, and consequently they occupy as much space in therefrigerator.

Further, the conventional refrigerator has another demerit in that coolair is not evenly distributed throughout the space of the refrigeratingcompartment 3. This is because the duct 3a for the refrigeratingcompartment 3 consists of only the cool-air discharge holes 3b formed inan up-and-down direction on the front of the duct 3a. That is, thecool-air discharge holes 3b are formed vertically to the downward flowdirection of the cool air in the duct 3a, and so most of the cool airdischarges through the lower cool-air discharge holes, while only alittle cool air discharges through the upper cool-air discharge holes.

As a result, the foodstuffs on the upper shelves of the refrigeratingcompartment 3 will not maintain a proper refrigerating temperature,whereas the foodstuffs on the lower shelves are overcooled, and thusspoiling storage of the fresh foodstuffs.

It is accordingly an object of this invention to provide a cool-aircirculating apparatus for a refrigerator which can supply sufficientamount of cool air to the refrigerating compartment, thereby maintainingthe foodstuff's freshness.

It is another object of this invention to provide a cool-air circulatingapparatus for a refrigerator which can evenly distribute cool airthroughout the space of the refrigerating compartment, thereby uniformlycooling the foodstuffs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In a refrigerator according to this invention, the freezing andrefrigerating compartments are completely separated from each other bymeans of an intermediate wall, and individual cool-air circulatingsystems are provided for supplying cool air to the compartments. Thatis, the refrigerator according to this invention comprises; a freezingand refrigerating compartment separated from each other by means of anintermediate wall formed on the refrigerator body; an evaporator and fanmounted on the rear side of the freezing compartment for circulatingcool air into the freezing compartment; a freezing compartment door andrefrigerating compartment door mounted on the front of each compartmentfor opening/closing the freezing and refrigerating compartments; and acool-air circulating apparatus, which is characteristic of thisinvention, mounted on the rear wall of the refrigerating compartment forcirculating cool air to the refrigerating compartment.

The cool-air circulating apparatus, which is formed as one housingconstruction, comprises an air suction member extending outwardhorizontally and a cool-air discharge member extending downwards fromthe middle of the air suction member.

The air suction member includes at least one or more air suctionopening(s) formed on the surface thereof, and a fan, and at least one ormore evaporator(s) mounted on the interior thereof. The cool-airdischarge member includes a grille mounted on the front thereof, and ablade disposed lengthwise in the interior thereof. The grille has aplurality of cool-air discharge openings formed in an up-and downdirection on the front of the grille.

Accordingly, the air in the refrigerating compartment is introduced intothe air suction member through the air suction opening(s) by theoperation of the fan and cooled when passed through the evaporator(s).The cooled air then flows to the cool-air discharge member and is evenlydistributed again, by the rotation of the blade, into the refrigeratingcompartment through the cool-air discharge openings.

The cool-air circulating apparatus of this invention has variousconstructions depending on the arrangement of the fan, the number of theair suction openings and evaporators, etc.

In the first construction, the evaporator, which is disposed in the airsuction member, is surrounded by an evaporator cover disposed within aspace created inside the air suction member. A couple of air suctionopenings are connected to the right and left sides of the lower wall ofthe evaporator cover from the right and left sides of the lower wall ofthe air suction member. A fan is disposed on the upper portion of theevaporator cover. The air suction member is connected with the cool-airdischarge member through a space formed between the evaporator cover andthe air suction member.

In the second construction, the evaporator is disposed under a partitionplate, which divides the air suction member into upper and lowerportions. A couple of air suction openings are formed on the right andleft sides of the lower wall of the air suction member. The fan isdisposed in the middle of the partition plate. The air suction membercommunicates with the cool-air discharge member by a guide channel,which is connected to the upper portion of the cool-air discharge memberfrom the upper portion of the air suction member.

In the third construction, the evaporator is disposed on either one ofthe right or left side of the air suction member. The air suctionopening is formed on the lower wall of the air suction member, of whichthe evaporator is disposed. The fan is disposed on the opposite side ofthe evaporator in the air suction member. An air guider extends to theupper end of the cool-air discharge member from the upper end of the airsuction member. The air guider curves toward the opposite side to theevaporator. The fan is surrounded by the air guider.

The fourth construction is the same as the third construction, with theexception of a couple of air suction openings formed on the right andleft sides of the lower wall of the air suction member.

In the fifth construction, the cool-air discharge member extends upwardsto the upper portion of the air suction member and divides the airsuction member into two sections. A cool-air inflow opening is formed onthe top end of the cool-air discharge member. The air suction member isdivided into right and left sections by the upper portion of thecool-air discharge member. A couple of evaporators are individuallydisposed on the right and left sections of the air suction member. Acouple of air suction openings are formed on each lower wall of theright and left sections of the air suction member. The fan is disposedin the cool-air inflow opening.

The sixth construction is the same as the fifth construction, except fora couple of air suction openings formed on each side wall of the rightand left sections of the air suction member.

This invention has another construction in which a couple of evaporatorsare mounted individually away from each other in the right and leftsections of the air suction member, as in the fifth and sixthconstructions, while still connected to each other by means of a jointrefrigerant tube.

As described above, the cool-air circulating apparatuses, according tothis invention, consist of an integrated housing construction in whichthe evaporator(s), fan, and blade are mounted in order to provide acool-air circulation cycle. In the cool-air circulation cycle, the airin the refrigerating compartment is introduced and cooled through anyone of the cool-air circulating apparatuses, and then discharged againinto the refrigerating compartment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view showing the internalconstruction of a conventional refrigerator;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view showing the internalconstruction of a refrigerator according to this invention;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing a cool-air circulatingapparatus according to the first embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the cool-aircirculating apparatus in FIG. 3;

FIGS. 5A,B,C are views taken along the line V--V in FIG. 4, which showthe flow directions of the cool air in accordance with the rotationangles of the blade;

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view showing a cool-air circulatingapparatus according to the second embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 7 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the cool-aircirculating apparatus in FIG. 6;

FIGS. 8 to 11 are views showing the third embodiment of this invention,of which show cool-air circulating apparatuses having an air guider inan integrated housing;

FIGS. 12 to 15 are views showing the fourth embodiment of thisinvention, of which show cool-air circulating apparatuses having acouple of evaporators in an integrated housing; and

FIGS. 16 and 17 show refrigerators having cool-air ducts of anotherhousing construction, to which the above embodiments are adapted.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 2 shows a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a refrigerator towhich this invention is adapted.

The refrigerator consists of a body 10 which comprises an intermediatewall 21, a freezing compartment 22 formed on top of the intermediatewall 21, and a refrigerating compartment 23 formed underneath theintermediate wall 21.

In the front of the freezing and refrigerating compartments 22,23, afreezing compartment door 24 and a refrigerating compartment door 25 aremounted for opening/closing the freezing and refrigerating compartments22,23, respectively. A duct 30 for the freezing compartment 22 ismounted on the rear side of the freezing compartment 22. The duct 30includes cool-air discharge holes 34 and air suction holes 35 in itsupper and lower portions. In the duct 30, an evaporator 31 is mountedadjacent to the air suction holes 35, and a fan 32 is mounted adjacentto the cool-air discharge holes 34. Through the operation of the fan 32and evaporator 31, the air in the freezing compartment 22 is inhaled,and cooled in the duct 30, through the air suction holes 35. It is thendischarged again into the freezing compartment 22 through the cool-airdischarge holes 34, maintaining the foodstuffs in frozen state.

In the refrigerating compartment 23, a plurality of shelves 26 areprovided to store foodstuffs efficiently. A vegetable box 27 is mountedon the lower portion of the refrigerating compartment 23. Cool-aircirculating apparatuses 40, according to various embodiments of thisinvention, are mounted on the rear wall of the refrigerating compartment23 for supplying cool air into the refrigerating compartment 23.

As described above, in the refrigerator to which this invention isadapted, the freezing and refrigerating compartments 22,23 arecompletely separated by means of the intermediate wall 21, and haveindividual cool-air circulating systems.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show a cool-air circulating apparatus 40A according to thefirst embodiment of this invention.

As shown in FIG. 3, the cool-air circulating apparatus 40A, which ismounted on the rear wall of the refrigerating compartment 23, forms ahousing construction of a `T` shape. The cool-air circulating apparatus40A comprises an air suction member 42 and a cool-air discharge member41.

The air suction member 42 is formed horizontally in the upper portion ofthe cool-air circulating apparatus 40A. The cool-air discharge member 41extends downward from the middle of the air suction member 42.

As shown in FIG. 4, the air suction member 42 has a closed constructionwith upper and lower walls, front and rear walls, and right and leftwalls. On the right and left sides of the lower wall of the air suctionmember 42, first and second air suction openings 43,43' are formed forreceiving air from the refrigerating compartment 23. The first andsecond air suction openings 43,43' are projected upwards toward theinterior of the air suction member 42 forming a short channel.

An evaporator cover 51 of a box shape is provided in the air suctionmember 42. A space is created between the evaporator cover 51 and theair suction member 42. On the right and left sides of the lower wall ofthe evaporator cover 51, first and second insert holes 52,52' are formedfor receiving the first and second air suction openings 43,43' A fan 60is disposed in the top center of the evaporator cover 51. An evaporator50 is disposed in the interior of the evaporator cover 51. That is, theair suction member 42 is formed in such a manner that the evaporator 50and the fan 60 can be mounted in the evaporator cover 51, and theevaporator cover 51 can be inserted into the first and second airsuction openings 43,43' which are shaped like short channels.

Accordingly, the first and second air suction openings 43,43' directlycommunicate with the evaporator 50 in the evaporator cover 51, while thespace between the air suction member 42 and evaporator cover 51 formsfirst and second cool-air passages 90,90', guiding the cool airgenerated by the evaporator 50 to the cool-air discharge member 41. Thefirst and second cool-air passages 90,90' join each other at the upperopen end of the cool-air discharge member 41 for communication with thecool-air discharge member 41. By using such a construction, the cool airpassing through the evaporator 50 does not mix with the air-introducedfrom the refrigerating compartment 23.

The upper wall 53 of the evaporator cover 51 slopes gradually down fromits center to opposite ends, while the fan 60 is positioned in thecenter of the upper wall 53 so the cool air passing through theevaporator 50 is naturally drawn towards the fan 60.

In this embodiment, the fan 60 of a radial type is selected, but anaxial type fan, like the propeller fan, may be selected.

The cool-air discharge member 41 comprises a blade 70 and a grille 44.The blade 70 is mounted within the cool-air discharge member 41. Thegrille 44 is attached to the front of the cool-air discharge member 41and has a plurality of cool-air discharge openings 45.

The blade 70, which is made of a long plate, is twisted several times. Asupport member 46 is provided above the blade 70 to rotatably supportthe top 71 of the blade 70. A driving motor 80 is mounted under theblade 70, and is connected to the bottom 71' to rotate the blade 70. Theblade 70 may be modified in various shapes, as long as they evenlydisperse cool air towards the refrigerating compartment 23. A low-speedmotor of 5 to 7 rpm is used as the driving motor 80. It may be furtherdesired that a geared motor or a stepping motor, rotatable in reverse,be used as the driving motor 80. In the case where a plurality of bladesare connected in parallel with one driving motor, the cool air would bedispersed more effectively.

The flow direction of the cool air in the cool-air circulating apparatus40A is indicated as arrows in FIG. 4.

In operation, the air in the refrigerating compartment 23 is introducedinto the evaporator cover 51 through the air suction openings 43,43' bythe operation of the fan 60. The introduced air, passing through theevaporator 50, is cooled, and then flows along the first and secondcool-air passages 90,90'. The cool air is then directed to the cool-airdischarge member 41. The cool air in the cool-air discharge member 41 isevenly distributed into the refrigerating compartment 23 through thecool-air discharge openings 45 by means of the blade 70 slowly rotatedby the driving motor 80.

FIGS. 5A,B,C show the flow directions of the cool air according to therotation angles of the blade 70. As the blade 70 is slowly rotated, thecool air discharges in every direction. Further, this invention can havea means for controlling the position of the blade 70, so that a specificarea in the refrigerating compartment 23 is cooled for a fixed period oftime.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show a cool-air circulating apparatus 40B according to asecond embodiment of this invention.

As shown in FIG. 6, the air suction member 42 is divided into two areasby means of a partition plate 54 which slopes gradually down to oppositeends from the middle portion. The fan 60 is disposed in the middleportion of the partition plate 54. The evaporator 50 is disposed underthe partition plate 54, or on the lower portion of the air suctionmember 42. The air suction openings 43,43' are formed on the right andleft sides of the lower wall of the air suction member 42. Further, acool-air guide duct 91 is provided to connect the air suction member 42with the cool-air discharge member 41. The one end of the cool-air guideduct 91 is connected to the upper portion of the air suction member 42,while the other end is connected to the upper portion of the cool-airdischarge member 41. Accordingly, the air in the refrigeratingcompartment 23 is directly introduced into the evaporator 50 through theair suction openings 43,43'. The cool air generated by the evaporator 50flows to the cool-air discharge member 41 through the cool-air guideduct 91. Except for the above description, this embodiment is the sameas the first embodiment.

FIGS. 8 to 11 show cool-air circulating apparatuses 40C according to thethird embodiment of this invention.

The cool-air circulating apparatuses 40C have a cool-air guide passage47 in the interior of the air suction member 42 instead of the cool-airguide duct 91 in the second embodiment.

In the cool-air circulating apparatus 40C shown in FIG. 8, the airsuction member 42 is divided into right and left sides by the cool-airdischarge member 41 bisecting the center of the air suction member 42.The first and second air suction openings 43,43' are formed on the rightand left sides of the lower wall of the air suction member 42.

The evaporator 50 is disposed in the left side of the air suction member42 where the second air suction opening 43' is formed. A suction passage72 is formed inside the first suction opening 43 by a horizontal plate49 which guides the cool air, introduced through the air suction opening43, to the evaporator 50.

Further, the cool-air guide passage 47 is formed extending towards theright side from the middle of the air suction member 42 by means of botha first guide plate 48 and a second guide plate 48', which guides thecool air passing through the evaporator 50 to the cool-air dischargemember 41. The first guide plate 48 extends outward horizontally towardsthe right side of the air suction member 42 from the left end of thecool-air discharge member 41. The second guide plate 48', of which oneend is connected to the right end of the cool-air discharge member 41which is smaller in height than the left end of the cool-air dischargemember 41, stands face to face with the first guide plate 48 and furtherextends towards the right side of the air suction member 42. The otherend of the second guide plate 48' is curved and connected to the upperend of the air suction member 42. That is, the cool-air guide passage 47is surrounded by means of the first and second guide plate 48,48'.

A fan 60 of a radial type is mounted in the cool-air guide passage 47.The cool-air discharge member 41 is the same as that in the aboveembodiments.

The flow of cool air is as follows: the air in the refrigeratingcompartment 23 is introduced, by the operation of the fan 60, into theevaporator 50 through the air suction openings 43,43'. The cool airgenerated by the evaporator 50 flows to the cool-air discharge member 41through the cool-air guide passage 47. The cool air in the cool-airdischarge member 41 is distributed evenly into the refrigeratingcompartment 23 through the cool-air discharge openings 45 by means ofthe blade 70 slowly rotated by the driving motor 80.

In the cool-air circulating apparatus 40C' shown in FIG. 9, only one airsuction opening 43 is formed on the left side wall of the air suctionmember 42 where the evaporator 50 is mounted, so the air in therefrigerating compartment 23 is introduced through only the left sidewall of the air suction member 42. Except for the above description,this cool-air circulating apparatus 40C' is the same as the cool-aircirculating apparatus 40C.

The cool-air circulating apparatus 40C", as shown in FIG. 10, is nearlyidentical to the cool-air circulating apparatus 40C shown in FIG. 8. Theonly difference between the two is that the fan 60 consists of apropeller type and a plurality of vanes 73 are arranged at pointscorresponding to each of the cool-air discharge openings 45, instead ofthe blade 70 of the twist type.

In the cool-air circulating apparatus 40C'" shown in FIG. 11, theevaporator 50 and the fan 60 are disposed on either side of the airsuction member 42, with one air suction opening 43, consisting ofseveral holes, provided under the evaporator 50. The cool-air guidepassage 47 is formed by connecting the outlet of the fan 60 with theupper end of the cool-air discharge member 41.

FIGS. 12 to 15 show cool-air circulating apparatuses 40D according tothe fourth embodiment of this invention.

The cool-air circulating apparatus 40D, as shown in FIG. 12, comprises acool-air discharge member 41 formed lengthwise, and first and second airsuction portions 42',42" arranged on the right and left sides of thecool-air discharge member 41, respectively. The first evaporator 50 ismounted in the first air suction portion 42', while the secondevaporator 50' is mounted in the second air suction portion 42". Acouple of air suction openings 43,43' are formed on the lower walls ofthe air suction portions 42',42", respectively. A cool-air inflowopening 55 is formed on the upper end of the cool-air discharge member41 for gathering cool air from the opposite evaporators 50,50'. The fan60 of a propeller type is mounted in the cool-air inflow opening 55. Thegrille 44, fitted in the front of the cool-air discharge member 41, andthe blade 70, of the twist type therein, are the same as those in thefirst embodiment.

The distinction between this embodiment and the aforementionedembodiments is that in this embodiment the air suction portions 42',42"are completely separated by the cool-air discharge member 41 crossingthem, and a couple of evaporators 50,50' are mounted in the air suctionportions 42',42".

Therefore, the air introduced from the first air suction opening 43 iscooled when passed through the first evaporator 50, and the airintroduced from the second air suction opening 43' is cooled when passedthrough the second evaporator 50'. The air passing through theevaporators 50,50' join each other in the cool-air inflow opening 55 andthen flow down along the cool-air discharge member 41. The cool air inthe cool-air discharge member 41 is distributed evenly into therefrigerating compartment 23 through the cool-air discharge openings 45by means of the blade 70, which is slowly rotated by the driving motor80. In the cool-air circulating apparatus 40D', as shown in FIG. 13, thefirst and second evaporator 50,50' are mounted in the first and secondair suction portions 42',42", respectively, and are connected to eachother by means of a connecting refrigerant tube 56.

The cool-air circulating apparatus 40D" in FIG. 14 shows a modifiedexample of the cool-air circulating apparatus 40D' in FIG. 13. In thecool-air circulating apparatus 40D" a couple of evaporators 50,50' areformed in a `U` shape. Accordingly, the size of the air suction member42 in this embodiment becomes smaller, compared with those of the otherembodiments.

In the cool-air circulating apparatus 40D'", as shown in FIG. 15, theair suction openings 43,43' are disposed on the side walls of the airsuction portions 42',42", respectively, instead of the lower wall.Except for the location of the air suction openings 43,43', thiscool-air circulating apparatus 40D'" is identical to the cool-aircirculating apparatuses 40D,D',D" shown in FIGS. 12 to 14, so furtherdescription will be omitted.

FIGS. 16 and 17 illustrate the interior of refrigerators to which theabove cool-air circulating apparatuses 40A,B,C,D can be adapted.

The refrigerator of FIG. 16 comprises; a body 10 including the freezingand refrigerating compartments 22,23 which are separated from each otherby means of ah intermediate wall 21'; a evaporator 31 and a fan 32; ahousing 100 for guiding the cool air, generated by the evaporator 31, tothe refrigerating compartment 23.

The housing 100 includes an cool-air inlet 101, a cool-air passage(notshown), a plurality of cool-air discharge openings 102, a plurality ofrotating vanes 103 for controlling the discharge direction of cool air,and a driving motor 104 for rotating the vanes 103.

In the refrigerator shown in FIG. 16, cool air is supplied to thefreezing and refrigerating compartments 22,23 by use of a commonevaporator 31 and fan 32, as in a conventional refrigerator. In the casethat the cool-air circulating apparatuses 40 are applied to such arefrigerator, the same operation and effect as those in the aboveembodiments can be acquired. That is, if the intermediate wall 21' isformed such that the freezing and refrigerating compartments 22,23 arecompletely separated from each other, like the intermediate wall 22 inFIG. 2, and the evaporator 50 and fan 60 for the refrigeratingcompartment 23 are disposed on the upper portion of the housing 100, soas to be the same as the air suction member 42 according to thisinvention, the housing 100 will work like the cool-air circulatingapparatuses 40 described above. As shown in FIG. 16, the lower portionof the housing 100, where the rotating vanes 103 and cool-air dischargeopenings 102 are arranged, has a similar construction as the cool-airdischarge member 41 of the cool-air circulating apparatuses 40.

Accordingly, the construction of the housing 100 shown in FIG. 16 can beincluded in the scope of this invention.

FIG. 17 illustrates a partial transverse section of a refrigerator ofwhich another housing 110 for the refrigerating compartment 23 ismounted. The housing 110 is mounted on the rear wall of therefrigerating compartment 23. An elliptical blade 113 is mounted in thehousing 110 and a plurality of cool-air discharge openings 112 areformed on the front of the housing 110.

The housing 110 can also function as a cool-air circulating apparatus.That is, if the air suction member 42, according to this invention, ismounted on the upper portion of the housing 110, it will work like thecool-air circulating apparatuses 40 described above. That is because thehousing 110 has a similar construction to that of the cool-air dischargemember 41 of the cool-air circulating apparatuses 40. Accordingly, theconstruction of the housing 110, shown in FIG. 17, can be included inthe scope of this invention.

As described in detail above, the cool-air circulating apparatuses,according to this invention, can easily be installed in a refrigeratorbecause they consist of an integrated housing construction.

Further, the cool-air-circulating apparatuses are free to be adjusted,according to the volume and use of one compartment, because they areused only for one compartment.

This invention is especially useful for large-sized refrigerators, wherethe volumes of the freezing and refrigerating compartments are large,because it is possible to individually provide cool-air circulatingapparatuses suitable for the volume and use of each compartment.

In addition, any compartment in which one of the cool-air circulatingapparatuses is mounted will be maintained at an uniform temperaturebecause the cool air is distributed evenly into the compartment througheach cool-air discharge opening by means of the blade rotating slowly.

What is claimed is:
 1. A refrigerator comprising;freezing andrefrigerating compartments which are completely separated from eachother by means of an intermediate wall; a first evaporator for coolingair and a first fan mounted on a rear side of said freezing compartmentfor circulating the cool air to said freezing compartment; the firstevaporator and first fan being isolated from the refrigeratingcompartment; a freezing compartment door and a refrigerating compartmentdoor mounted on the front of each compartment for opening/closing saidfreezing and refrigerating compartments; and a cool-air circulatingapparatus comprising a housing mounted on a rear wall of saidrefrigerating compartment for circulating cool air to said refrigeratingcompartment, said housing comprising an air suction member extendingoutward horizontally and a cool-air discharge member extending downwardfrom about the middle of said air suction member, said air suctionmember including at least one air suction opening formed in a surfacethereof, at least one second evaporator mounted in said air suctionmember for cooling air, a second fan mounted on said air suction memberfor circulating the air cooled by said second evaporator to saidrefrigerating compartment, the second evaporator and second fan beingisolated from the freezing compartment, said cool-air discharge memberincluding a grille mounted on a front portion thereof and a bladedisposed lengthwise in the interior thereof, said grille having aplurality of cool-air discharge openings formed in an up-and-downdirection on a front of said grille, said blade arranged fordistributing the cool air cooled by said second evaporator to therespective discharge openings.
 2. A refrigerator according to claim 1,wherein said blade is rotatable, said second evaporator is disposed inthe air suction member of said cool-air circulating apparatus, andsurrounded by an evaporator cover disposed within a space created insidesaid air suction member, said air suction openings are connected fromthe right and left sides of the lower wall of said air suction member tothe right and left sides of the lower wall of said evaporator cover,respectively, and said second fan is disposed in the upper portion ofsaid evaporator cover,said air suction member communicating with saidcool-air discharge member through the space formed between saidevaporator cover and said air suction member, whereby the air in saidrefrigerating compartment is introduced into said air suction memberthrough said air suction openings by the operation of said second fanand cooled by passing through said second evaporator, and then flowingto said cool-air discharge member through said space and distributedevenly again into said refrigerating compartment through said cool-airdischarge openings by rotation of said blade.
 3. A refrigeratoraccording to claim 1, wherein said second evaporator is disposed under apartition plate which divides said air suction member of said cool-aircirculating apparatus into upper and lower portions,said air suctionopenings are formed on the right and left sides of the lower wall ofsaid air suction member, respectively, said second fan is disposed inthe middle of said partition plate, said air suction membercommunicating with said cool-air discharge member by a guide channelthat connects the upper portion of said air suction member to the upperportion of said cool-air discharge member, whereby the air in saidrefrigerating compartment is introduced into said air suction memberthrough said air suction openings by the operation of said second fanand cooled by passing through said second evaporator, and then flowingto said cool-air discharge member through said guide channel and isdistributed evenly again into said refrigerating compartment throughsaid cool-air discharge openings by rotation of said blade.
 4. Arefrigerator according to claim 1, wherein said second evaporator isdisposed on either one of the right or left sides of said air suctionmember of said cool-air circulating apparatus,said air suction opening43 is formed on the lower wall of said air suction member of which saidsecond evaporator is disposed, said second fan is disposed on theopposite side of said second evaporator in said air suction member, acool-air guide passage extends downwards from the upper end of said airsuction member to the top end of said cool-air discharge ember, andcurving towards the opposite side of said second evaporator, said secondfan being surrounded by said cool-air guide passage, whereby the air insaid refrigerating compartment is introduced into said air suctionmember through said air suction opening by the operation of said secondfan and cooled by passing through said second evaporator, and thenflowing to said cool-air discharge member through said cool-air guidepassage and distributed evenly again into said refrigerating compartmentthrough said cool-air discharge openings by rotation of said blade.
 5. Arefrigerator according to claim 1, wherein said second evaporator isdisposed on either one of the right or left sides of said air suctionmember of said cool air circulating apparatus,said air suction openingsare formed on the right and left side of the lower wall of said airsuction member, respectively, said second fan is disposed on theopposite side of said evaporator in said air suction member, a cool-airguide passage extends downwards from the upper end of said air suctionmember to the top end of said cool-air discharge member, and curvingtowards the opposite side of said second evaporator, said fan beingsurrounded by said cool-air guide passage, whereby the air in saidrefrigerating compartment is introduced into said air suction memberthrough aid air suction openings by the operation of said second fan andcooled by passing through said second evaporator, and then flowing tosaid cool-air discharge member through said cool-air guide passage anddistributed evenly again into said refrigerating compartment throughsaid cool-air discharge openings 45 by rotation of said blade.
 6. Arefrigerator according to claim 1, wherein said cool-air dischargemember of said cool-air circulating apparatus extends upwards to theupper portion of said air suction member and divides said air suctionmember into two sections, a cool-air inflow opening being formed on thetop end of said cool-air discharge member,said air suction member isdivided into first and second air suction portions by the upper portionof said cool-air discharge member, there being two said secondevaporators disposed in said first and second air suction portions,respectively, said air suction openings are formed on the lower walls ofsaid first and second air suction portions, respectively, said secondfan is disposed in said cool-air inflow opening, whereby the air in saidrefrigerating compartment is introduced into said air suction memberthrough said air suction openings by the operation of said second fanand cooled by passing through said second evaporators, and then flowingto said cool-air discharge member through said cool-air inflow openingand distributed evenly again into said refrigerating compartment throughsaid cool-air discharge openings by rotation of said blade.
 7. Arefrigerator according to claim 6, wherein said second evaporators aremounted spaced from each other in said first and second air suctionportions respectively, of said cool-air circulating apparatus, whileconnected to each other by means of a connecting refrigerant tube.
 8. Arefrigerator according to claim 1, wherein said cool-air dischargemember of said cool-air circulating apparatus extends upwards to theupper portion of said air suction member and divides said air suctionmember into two sections, with at least one or more cool-air inflowopening being formed on the top end of said cool-air dischargemember,said air suction member is divided into first and second airsuction portions by the upper portion of said cool-air discharge member,there being two said second evaporators disposed in said first andsecond air suction portions, respectively, said air suction openings areformed on the side walls of said first and second air suctionportions,respectively, said second fan is disposed in said cool-airinflow opening, whereby the air in said refrigerating compartment isintroduced into said air suction member through said air suctionopenings by the operating of said second fan and cooled by passingthrough said second evaporators, and then flowing to said cool-airdischarge member through said cool-air inflow opening and distributedevenly again into said refrigerating compartment through said cool-airdischarge openings by rotation of said blade.
 9. A refrigeratoraccording to claim 8, wherein said second evaporators are mounted spacedfrom each other in said first and second air suction portions,respectively, while connected to each other by means of a connectingrefrigerant tube.
 10. A refrigerator according to claim 1 wherein theblade is rotatable about a vertical axis, and further including a motorconnected to said blade for rotating said blade about said axis.